Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Too slow, don’t was weird and not for me. Couldn’t get into it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This one hit me right in the feels. Holy heck.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child abuse, Car accident, Abandonment
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident, Suicide attempt
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
such an incredible, tragically beautiful book.
i wish we got to know more about violet’s magazine but I can see why it was left the way it was.
i wish we got to know more about violet’s magazine but I can see why it was left the way it was.
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
(TW: heavy topics are brought up in this review, if you are triggered by mental illnesses, please skip this review and have a great day!)
I bought this book when it first came out and left it on the shelf because the main topic is one that hits close to home.
Then a movie came out (because every best seller needs a movie am I right…) and I watched it. I know you’ll say you should read the book first blablabla and most times I agree with you. But this time I don’t.
The movie I watched, even “enjoyed” to some extent.
BUT THE BOOK.
I usually put a book down when I don’t like it but I finished this one just to write a review. Bare with me as I try to word it out in a clear nice way.
As someone who has an understanding, and first hand experience of the main topics in this book I would never recommend it to someone. I’d go as far as to say it can cause so much harm if I’m the wrong hands (aka someone dealing with S.A and mental illnesses).
I understand this book was written by a survivor of suicide through the loss of a friend and it almost feels like an autobiography dedicated to the love Jennifer had for her friend, and I can get behind that. (note: everyone’s grieving process is different, and I am in no way undermining her grief, or the process she has gone through)
But the take she has on mental illness, and teenagers is appalling.
The book starts nice and gentle with 2 teens connecting under the circumstances of Violet - popular girl- dealing with the loss of her sister in a car accident, and Finch - outcast- dealing with bullying and depression (to make it short). The beginning is sweet as he kind of forces his way into her life and picks her up off the ground to “live again” after her sisters death. But on the other side you have his story. A glorified anti-hero who is at first portrayed as this cool, misunderstood, handsome so called “freak” with personal struggles, who towards the end is portrayed as someone who was trying to get better, and wanted to live. As a survivor myself, I can tell you I didn’t see it. (And I’m one to annotate and highlight my books).
At no point was there any indication of character growth towards that, or any indication of help he could have gotten from others. So on one hand you have Violet, main character, good growth, she eventually grieves all her losses (without any counseling, help group, friend or family’s help but finch - like what), and Finch who was left for dead from the beginning of the book.
There’s a few topics that annoyed me in this book as well, and that in my eyes are cannot be overlooked as they are everywhere in the book.
- Talk of mental illnesses in the sense that some characters are simply restricted to their illness (such asself-harm, eating disorders, depression), and Finch is basically a glorified suicide victim,
-slut shaming,
- body shaming,
- Speech about the girls in the book (they are looked down upon),
- the lack of adult/parental figure. In fact there was literally NO ONE helping Finch to get better. His mother too worried about her own personal struggles, the COUNCELOR too busy explaining that if a student dies on school grounds he will get a lawsuit, his dad with a new family, his so called friends who randomly pop into the story, and the help group with literally one session and no follow ups on that lead in the story.
Overall, this book is very disappointing and if you skip it, you won’t miss anything unfortunately..
I bought this book when it first came out and left it on the shelf because the main topic is one that hits close to home.
Then a movie came out (because every best seller needs a movie am I right…) and I watched it. I know you’ll say you should read the book first blablabla and most times I agree with you. But this time I don’t.
The movie I watched, even “enjoyed” to some extent.
BUT THE BOOK.
I usually put a book down when I don’t like it but I finished this one just to write a review. Bare with me as I try to word it out in a clear nice way.
As someone who has an understanding, and first hand experience of the main topics in this book I would never recommend it to someone. I’d go as far as to say it can cause so much harm if I’m the wrong hands (aka someone dealing with S.A and mental illnesses).
I understand this book was written by a survivor of suicide through the loss of a friend and it almost feels like an autobiography dedicated to the love Jennifer had for her friend, and I can get behind that. (note: everyone’s grieving process is different, and I am in no way undermining her grief, or the process she has gone through)
But the take she has on mental illness, and teenagers is appalling.
At no point was there any indication of character growth towards that, or any indication of help he could have gotten from others. So on one hand you have Violet, main character, good growth, she eventually grieves all her losses (without any counseling, help group, friend or family’s help but finch - like what), and Finch who was left for dead from the beginning of the book.
There’s a few topics that annoyed me in this book as well, and that in my eyes are cannot be overlooked as they are everywhere in the book.
- Talk of mental illnesses in the sense that some characters are simply restricted to their illness (such as
-
- body shaming,
- Speech about the girls in the book (they are looked down upon),
- the lack of adult/parental figure. In fact there was literally NO ONE helping Finch to get better.
Overall, this book is very disappointing and if you skip it, you won’t miss anything unfortunately..
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Car accident, Abandonment
emotional
reflective
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
if dear evan hansen is the after, this is the before. it makes sense to me
Also idk how to rate this book?? idk if I liked it, if I liked the depiction of the whole mental illness stuff and I can't decide whether it was done well or not. romanticizing the whole thing through love poems feels wrong idk
Also idk how to rate this book?? idk if I liked it, if I liked the depiction of the whole mental illness stuff and I can't decide whether it was done well or not. romanticizing the whole thing through love poems feels wrong idk
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Car accident, Suicide attempt
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I admit to have watching the movie before reading the book it was a challenge trying to not compare what I've seen to what I'm reading. This book was very emotional and most likely not, but maybe exactly what I needed to read. Finch's experience with "sleep and awake" were beautifully described and depicted throughout the entire thing it made so much sense, I related heavily. The author was able to describe what my whole teen life has felt like in plain worded terms.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Minor: Mental illness, Self harm